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The woman's parish priest said: "This isn't about a gay couple in a private home, this is about a gay couple running a hotel where they also live, where they cannot restrict who the child is going to meet. That's my anxiety."

Although the mother would not talk directly, a fellow parishioner said: "She knows she is unwell and cannot cope with looking after him. All she wants is for him to be raised in a regular family atmosphere, by a man and a woman.

"She would prefer a Catholic couple, but if that is not possible, at least a heterosexual one. But social services have given her no choice. She cannot understand how he can be looked after by two men she's never met.

"Her belief is that they could encourage him into a lifestyle that is against her religious beliefs."

The council, which has one of the highest rates of gay adopting and fostering in Britain, has told the mother the new foster parents are experienced and fully qualified.

A spokesman however declined to comment, saying: "We will not comment on any issue relating to the welfare of a child in the care of the council."